From Seattle Catholic comes news that the White House snubbed Rocco Buttiglione possibly to please "old Europe" on behalf of the State Department. Although this may just be Robert Novak's conjecture, it is worrisome. The EU is doing everything it can to forget its Christian heritage and to push the religion of secular humanism.

We Catholics should hope Malta can continue to fight the good fight within the EU. The small island nation is mostly Catholic and abortion is illegal. This does not sit well with the "old Europe types" in the EU but Malta so far has been able to stick up for itself. Hopefully, "new Europe" countries such as Poland will be able to remind the EU of the Catholicism that is at the heart of its history.

For the locals: Ed Lowe joins the Long Island Press.

This weekend was spent getting a Christmas tree, shopping, and wrapping. Fortunately, it ended on a high note: a performance of the Christmas portion of Handel's Messiah at St. Ignatius Martyr Church in Long Beach. One of the tenors was none other than the Recovering Choir Director. A special treat was a performance of Bach's Magnificat in D major and needless to say, there were no backing tracks used at this concert.